KENNEWICK — Human traffickers hide among the dozens of massage therapists operating legally in the Tri-Cities.
An ordinance passed last year gave Kennewick police tools to actively search out the innocuous looking storefronts where women are being trafficked.
Officers have conducted regular inspections of massage businesses since late 2023 when the ordinance went into effect.
Since starting, the city has inspected 36 massage businesses, of those they’ve found five where human trafficking was believed happening.
The latest three were locations that they shut down on Feb. 20 during a series of raids. Undercover detectives went in and when they were offered sex, they left and police went in to make arrests, Kennewick Sgt. Ryan Kelly told the Tri-City Herald.
Detectives found three women managing the locations as well as two women being trafficked. The locations have been shut down and the managers were arrested and charged with misdemeanors.
If convicted, they could face up to 90 days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.
Kennewick Detective Kris Safranek said shutting down the businesses is the city’s latest victory in the pursuit of illicit massage parlors in the Tri-Cities.
The city started aggressively pursuing illicit massage parlors in 2023 after a series of investigations between March and May uncovered five businesses accused of offering sexual services.
The regulations have proven to be a way to shut down the storefronts by giving police more oversight of them and making owners ineligible to apply for a new city license to reopen.
While Pasco and Richland have ordinances governing massage businesses, neither has provisions that allow police inspections or to restrict the business hours.
Safranek, who has been part of the inspections since they started in late 2023, said it’s Kennewick’s aggressiveness and tips from people that have led to the raids.
So far, they’ve received nine tips, and the majority have led to businesses being shut down.
“We’re the only one in the Tri-Cities that has an ordinance like ours,” Safranek said.
He said detectives from other Tri-City agencies have been working with Kennewick.
He said the city is battling organized crime capable for bringing in women from China and shuffling them among cities.
Operate in the open
Most illicit massage businesses operate with an air of legitimacy. Two of the businesses searched last week — Genesis Spa and Lotus Massage, both on Clearwater Avenue — had businesses licenses and registered with the state.
According to state records, they opened in March 2024, after the new rules in Kennewick were put into place. Both locations were owned by limited liability corporations both created within a year and a half of the locations being opened.
Safranek said the owners of the illicit massage parlors often come from Seattle or Portland for the initial inspection, displaying all of the correct state licenses for the time period.
Once they clear that hurdle, the owners disappear and leave the operation in the hands of local managers. In many cases, the owners will have multiple locations across the state or even within the same city.
For example, Genesis Spa’s owner has a Bonney Lake address, and the owner of Lotus Massage also has a Western Washington address, according to public records.
The same locations appear to attract the same businesses, Safranek said. In particular, Lotus Massage was previously the home of ShangriLa Massage, one of businesses shut down in May 2023.
It’s unclear if there is a link between the businesses. State records say that the businesses were owned by different companies.
The plain looking building at the corner of Kellogg Street also houses accountants and is owned by a company called S L Ventures Partnership, which uses the building as its address.
Safranek has seen in one case where the location didn’t even change the furniture in the waiting room. Often, they’ll change ownership and open again. The spots often have all of the equipment to provide massages, so it’s easy for a new company to move in.
When the locations are rentals, police have been talking with the owners about how their property is being used, Safranek said.
While the businesses operate in quiet storefronts, they don’t hide their advertisements. Advertisements with lurid pictures for locations in the Tri-Cities can be found on websites that are used for sexual services.
The advertisements don’t show a location. Instead people call a number and are directed to a business.
Trafficked women
Kennewick police have worked closely with Mirror Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit, to help the women they find at the locations. The organization has provided police with a translator and offers to help the women.
The trafficked women found on Feb. 20 were from China and they accepted help from Mirror Ministries.
They always give the same story to investigators, Safranek said. They have identification from New York or California, and said they only arrived a day or week before and don’t know what city they were in.
They normally say that they’re trying to pay off bills to help their family in China.
Safranek said the women tend to stay in one town for about a month before they’re shuffled to another location in another city.
The women also often live at the massage businesses. There is normally a room in the back with a bed and food.
“It’s obvious that some of them are living on location,” he said.
Kennewick’s history
Kennewick’s ordinance aimed at pursuing illicit massage parlors has its roots in a March 2023 raid, when a Chelan County operation uncovered a massage parlor in Kennewick owned by a Tacoma man, Linhui Han. While police only investigated one location in Kennewick, he allegedly owned four in Tri-Cities.
All were shut down after the investigation.
He was charged in Chelan County Superior Court with leading organized crime, money laundering and second-degree promoting prostitution. Police spent nearly a year searching for him before he was arrested in March 2024.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree promoting prostitution in December 2024 and was sentenced to three months in jail. He also lost his license to operate a massage therapy business in Washington.
Then police accompanied Department of Health officials when they inspected six massage parlors. Four were found to have offered sexual services, the other two didn’t have the proper documentation.
All were closed down.
Leading up to that first raid, Kennewick’s then mayor, Bill McKay approached Police Chief Chris Guerrero about information he had about illicit massage parlors.
McKay later admitted to police that he paid for a “happy ending.”
The Pierce County prosecutor’s office reviewed the investigation and decided not to charge McKay with a crime.
Legitimate businesses
Most of the massage businesses in Kennewick are legitimate, Safranek said, noting of the 36 inspections, only five are accused of offering to sell sex acts.
The businesses they say are operating illegally have been discovered because of people’s complaints.
If a person goes into a massage business and feels like something is wrong, or if they’re offered sexual services, police asked citizens to report it. Anyone with information about illicit massage businesses can reach police using the non-emergency dispatch number at 509-628-0333.
Kennewick also has an anonymous tip website at kpdtips.com.
Safranek is optimistic about the city’s chances of curbing illicit massage parlors. He said if the department had a detective dedicated to investigating massage parlors full time, they would likely find more problems.
“If we stay on top of them, I don’t have any doubt that we can get rid of them,” he said.
